Almost 10% council tax hike rejected by government

Plans to increase council tax by almost 10% in parts of Cheshire have been rejected by the government.

Cheshire East Council had asked the government for permission to increase the charge by 9.9%.

Authorities can only increase council tax by 4.99% in total without holding a local referendum.

Cheshire East Council said its request had been "declined" and it would "update financial plans as necessary".

Last month, the authority said it was important to "explore every option to improve financial stability" and that its request did "not commit the council to raising council tax".

Elsewhere, a total of six areas have been given permission for what Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner described as "small" increases.

They are Birmingham City Council, Bradford Council, Newham Council, Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council, Somerset Council and Trafford Council.

In a written statement, Ms Rayner said there had been a record number of councils asking for additional council tax increases.

"We have agreed to a limited number of requests and in all cases have not agreed to the full amount requested," she said.

"Where we have agreed, it is only for councils with amongst the lowest levels of council tax, and where we expect, even after these increases, residents will still be paying less than the average compared with similar councils."

Cheshire East Council said the potential increase was "one of a range of possible measures that could be taken" to allow it to set a balanced budget.

"We are reviewing the latest information from government and will update financial plans as necessary," a spokesperson said.

"It will take some time to analyse all the detail."

The council is set to approve its budget on 26 February.

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